A Son's Love
by Light-Eco-Sage
Summary: Korra is searching for an Airbending Master. Unfortunately, the only one around seems to be hell-bent on not teaching her. This is why... Character death, violence, hints of Kataang


**A Son's Love**

**By: Light-Eco-Sage**

**Rated: Teen for Character Death**

**Summary: Korra searches for an Airbending teacher. Unfortunately, the only one around seems hell-bent on **_**not**_** teaching her.**

**Disclaimer: "Avatar: The Legend of Korra" hasn't even been released yet. So I can't even say that I've seen it… let alone own it. Bryke owns A:TLoK.**

**LES: I'm all ready writing a story to go with my fanfiction raid, but this is a story that I've had the idea for ever since the info on Korra was released. Obviously, since I know nothing of the characters, there are artistic liberties taken with them. I'm perfectly aware that my Tenzin might turn out to be OOC, but I can't help it. I see two possible versions of Tenzin. #1: Cheerful and light-hearted like his father (which is more likely to be canon). And #2: World-weary and slightly bitter. The Tenzin in this story will be the #2 variety. I hope that doesn't put any of you off. Now… on with the one shot!

* * *

**

A sudden movement… a flash of orange disappearing into the sky… and young girl screaming in frustration and rage.

Seeing unusual sights within the boundaries of Republic City was sort of a given among the citizens, but even they stopped and took notice of the young Water Tribe girl coming to a sudden halt in the middle of the street, shouting obscenities at the now-empty sky.

But now she had a new problem. She had drawn attention to herself, and now people could clearly see that she was not just any ordinary Water Tribe girl. She was none other than Avatar Korra, the latest reincarnation of the Spirit of the Planet, and the heir to the previous Avatar: Avatar Aang, who was most famous for stopping the longest war in known history.

They were on her instantly. "Avatar Korra! Avatar Korra! AVATAR KORRA!"

Unfortunately for them, to say that Korra was in a bad mood was a vast understatement. She never really liked Republic City, and yet she had found herself here for over a month! A month spent on a wild goose chase after the only Airbending Master in the entire world: Master Tenzin, the only son of Avatar Aang.

She had thought finding the Airbending Master would be easy. She never had this sort of problem in the other nations. In both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, Masters of Bending begged and pleaded for the opportunity to teach Korra.

It was well known that teachers of the Avatar could become nearly as famous as their famous pupil, as demonstrated by Avatar Aang's teachers, who had all gone on to achieve wealth and success in their lives.

There was Master Katara, Avatar Aang's Waterbending teacher. She had achieved the highest honor of the age: becoming the beloved of the Avatar. They had been married and she bore Avatar Aang his son: whom Korra was now desperately trying to chase down. When Korra last saw her, she was one of the best Waterbending teachers in the Southern Water Tribe.

There was Master Toph, Avatar Aang's Earthbending teacher. At twelve years old, she had gained the title of The Greatest Earthbender in the World, and for good reason. She had invented Metalbending, an ultra-rare form of Earthbending. Master Toph had married and had her own children, who seemed to inherit all of her Earthbending talent but not her blindness. She ran a school for Earthbending, and Earthbenders had come from all over the Earth Kingdom to learn from her the secrets of Metalbending. However, she had only taught a select few the secret arts: Avatar Aang and her own children. It was Korra's good luck that she was taught Earthbending by one of Master Toph's children, and they passed on the knowledge of Metalbending to her.

And then there was Firelord Zuko. There was almost no need to talk about how great Firelord Zuko's life went after teaching the Avatar. He became the leader of the Fire Nation and was now considered to be one of the most beloved Firelords in Fire Nation history.

So she couldn't understand why Master Tenzin…

Korra's thoughts trailed off. _Well… the fame probably doesn't matter to him one bit. He's all ready the son of one Avatar and loved all over the world, so he didn't need the fame of being the teacher of the Avatar._

But, even still, fame or no fame… didn't he realize that he had a duty to her! To the world! One would think that being the Avatar's son would teach that no-good Airbender a little something about _duty_! It wasn't like she could just find someone else to teach her Airbending! Master Tenzin was the only Master Airbender alive! Korra only had two choices: learn Airbending from him, or forever remain an unrealized Avatar.

But… the way things were going… the unrealized option was looking far more likely.

"Avatar Korra…" One of the citizens spoke to her, stopping her in her tracks. "You look like something is bothering you. Can we be of assistance?"

"Look, I don't have the time to…" Korra began, and then trailed off. "I mean… maybe? Do you possibly know where Master Tenzin lives?"

"Avatar Aang's son?" The man clarified. Korra nodded. "You are in luck. There are not many people who know where Master Tenzin lives, and I happen to be one of the few who does have that knowledge."

"Where?" Korra asked.

"Well, as you know, Republic City was founded by Avatar Aang decades ago to help foster unity between the nations. Because of this, we have always considered Avatar Aang to be something of our patron. Do you see that island in the bay?"

Korra looked where the man pointed. There was, indeed, a rocky out-crop in the middle of the bay, with an enormous statue perched on top. "Yes." She answered.

"That island houses a shrine dedicated to Avatar Aang. He is the subject of that statue that you see. Master Tenzin lives there, as the tender of the shrine."

"A tender of a shrine?" Korra asked. "Kind of a humble life for the son of the Avatar, don't you think?"

The man shrugged. "Master Tenzin wants privacy for his family and himself. That's all I know."

"Thank you for your help." Korra said, truly grateful to the man for the information. She bowed and then began the walk down to the bay.

Once she got down to the water, getting across to the shrine was a breeze. Korra's Waterbending abilities were more than enough to get her across the bay safely and onto the rocky island.

She was in the shadow of the huge statue depicting Avatar Aang. Most statues of the Avatar depicted them at what age they were when they became fully-realized, but none of Avatar Aang's statues showed him as a 13 year old. Someone had decided it would be better for Avatar Aang's dignity to wait until his statues were made when he was older. Now, all the statues depicted the Avatar in his early twenties, still much younger than most of the other Avatars. His statue looked almost identical to how she saw him in the Spirit World when the occasion took her there. He was handsome, in his own way. (Korra wasn't fond of the baldness.) From what little glimpses she had seen on Master Tenzin as he ran away from her, he did not shave his hair like his father, nor did he dress in the standard Air Nomad monks robes. Tenzin favored a more Earth Kingdom style, in orange.

As Korra walked up to the shrine, she began to mentally plan what she was going to tell Tenzin when she found him: a speech filled with words like duty, responsibility, and obligation. But she forgot her words when a young boy met her… maybe around five years old.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hello." Korra said, schooling her face into a smile. "Are you here to visit the shrine?"

The boy shrugged. "No. I live here."

"You live here?" Korra asked confused.

"Yeah, with my mommy and daddy."

"Your mommy and…" Korra paused. It suddenly occurred to her that this child could be…

"Meelo! Meelo, where are…" A beautiful Earth Kingdom woman suddenly ran out of the shrine at a jog, calling a name with somewhat of a frantic edge to her voice. When she caught sight of the young boy, she sighed with relief and rushed over. "Meelo, I thought I told you…" She trailed off when she saw Korra. "Oh, hello. Are you here to visit the shrine?"

"Um… not really." Korra said nervously. "Are you the wife of Master Tenzin?"

"Yes, I am." The woman said. "I am Nyra. Although I'm afraid that if you want to know things about Avatar Aang, I can't help you. He passed away before I met Tenzin…"

"That's not exactly what I want." Korra said. "You see, my name is Korra, and…"

"Oh!" Nyra gasped. "I thought that you looked familiar! You are Avatar Aang's reincarnation! So that means you are here to…" She trailed off nervously. "You want my husband to train you in the art of Airbending?"

"Yes." Korra said. "Master Tenzin is the only Master Airbender in the entire world. There is no other option."

"I'm afraid… that getting my husband to teach you is easier said than done." Nyra said. "You see… Tenzin abandoned the ways of the Air Nomads before I met him."

"Abandoned? I don't understand." Korra said. "How could you just abandon your heritage, especially one as rare as being an Air Nomad…?"

"I don't know why he did, he has never told me." Nyra said. "All I know is that it has something to do with his father's death."

Before Korra could inquire any further, there was such a disturbance in the air that even an untrained Airbender such as herself could sense it. Korra didn't even have to turn around for her suspicions to be confirmed by a shout from Meelo.

"Daddy!"

Korra turned and saw Master Tenzin up close for the first time in weeks. He shared so many physical traits with his famous father that no one doubted his powerful lineage. He had his father's unique gray eyes and also his (rumored) black hair. The only obvious physical trait that he got from his mother, Master Katara of the Water Tribe, was his darkened skin tone, but it was rumored that he had Master Katara's swift temper.

Young Meelo ran up to his father, clutching onto his leg. Korra had seen many fathers in this position pick up their laughing child and spin them around in a circle, but Tenzin did not do this. He barely spared the child a smile before he noticed Korra and froze.

Without a word, he turned and began to stalk to the shrine, obviously not wanting anything to do with her.

But Korra would not give up that easily, not that she had finally cornered him. "Master Tenzin! Please, I have to speak with you!"

"There's no need." The Airbender said curtly, never glancing back at her as he continued towards the shrine. "You want me to teach you Airbending. And the answer is: no, I won't."

"But you must understand…" Korra began, following closely behind him. She couldn't understand it… he seemed to be doing no more than a brisk walk, and she had to jog to keep up with him. _Perhaps,_ she thought, _this is the special sort of movement that comes from being a Master Airbender, or at least a trained one._ "I am the Avatar…"

"I know who you are." Tenzin said. "I knew from the moment I first saw you. I could tell you were the Avatar just by looking at your face. Avatars always have a certain quality to them… believe me, I would know about it."

"Then you have to realize that in order for me to fulfill my duty and become fully realized that I have to Master Airbending? Master Tenzin, you are the _only_ Airbending Master in the entire world…"

"_Former_ Airbending Master." Tenzin said. "One such as me has no right to the title, so I don't even try to pretend that I am the Master I once was."

"What are you talking about? You just don't _stop_ being a Master!" Korra said hotly.

"How little you know…" Master Tenzin sighed, finally turning to face her. "Tell me, the Avatar not included, is it possible for an Earth Kingdom citizen to master Firebending, or Waterbending?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Can a member of the Water Tribe master Earthbending or Firebending?"

"No."

"In order to master Airbending, one must be an Air Nomad. I am not an Air Nomad, so how could I master Airbending?"

Unfortunately, this just left Korra more confused than ever. "Do you mean how… you are half Water Tribe?"

Tenzin shook his head. "If only…" He met Korra's eyes finally, and she was slightly unnerved to see Avatar Aang's eyes looking at her with such cynicism. "Avatars are able to communicate with their past lives. Hasn't my father told you about the manner in which he died?"

"Well… no." Korra said. "He never offered to tell me, and I never asked to hear it. It just seemed kind of… personal. Like it wasn't my business how he died."

Tenzin laughed unpleasantly. "Is this more punishment?" He asked, but he didn't seem to be speaking to her. "You were cruel at the end, and even in death you torment me." He shook his head. "I suppose I'll have to tell you myself… my ultimate shame; for I committed a crime so fowl that it caused my father to turn his back on me before he died.

"You know, of course, that Avatars are exempt from most of the laws that bind normal mortals. Even laws as universally binding as 'don't kill' have little weight when it comes to the safety of the entire world. Oh, my father strived to never kill in cold blood, which he managed through his life. But when you are the Avatar with such unimaginable power, accidents can happen sometimes. A little too much force applied in the wrong place can kill a person, and my father killed. Each time he killed, he got torn up, and he would grieve for the life that he had taken. When I was young, he strove to instill in me the values of the Air Nomads, and they valued life above everything. Life was the ultimate gift, so it was the ultimate crime to take it away." Tenzin trailed off.

Neither one spoke for several minutes, and then Korra began quietly. "You killed someone, didn't you?"

Tenzin didn't respond for some time, and when he did, it was not an answer to her question. "It happened seventeen years ago, when my father was still alive and I was his pride and joy… before our family got torn apart…"

* * *

(17 Years Ago…)

In many ways, Avatar Aang was not a normal Air Nomad. For one thing, he was the Avatar. For another, he also happened to be the last Airbender. (Though many had taken to calling him The First Airbender since Tenzin had been born.)

For another, there was Avatar Aang's family life. In the time of the Air Nomads, it was not uncommon for most of the monks and nuns to never marry, even though some did. To counteract this, many of the men who were not monks took upon themselves multiple wives in order to insure a steady population of new Airbenders. In fact, for an Air Nomad man to have only a single wife was practically unheard of.

Though many people had wanted Avatar Aang to continue this tradition and marry multiple women and father numerous children with them, he could not bring himself to love any besides his wife, Tenzin's mother. Aang had remained loyal to her through all their years of marriage, even though fate had only seen fit to grant them a single child, born to them after years of struggling to conceive in their thirties.

The world was vastly disappointed that there was only one new Airbender to insure the continuance of the Air Nomads, and every day they insisted that Tenzin start taking wives to bed to conceive his own children. Tenzin, even though he was well into his thirties and nearly past the prime age to get married, ignored them. He would get married when he was good and ready, to a woman that he loved, not the brainless bimbos that kept getting pushed his way by politicians.

Honestly, Tenzin was in no rush to get married. Being an only child, he was doted on by his parents and by the whole world. He loved his mother and he adored his father. Aang was Tenzin's absolute hero, and he strived every day to please his father and become a Master Airbender. He didn't match his father's record of mastering Airbending by the time he was ten for the world who desperately wanted a Master Airbender… he did it for his father.

To this day, his proudest memory was when he was twelve years old and his father deemed him ready to undergo the sacred tattooing ceremony of the Air Nomads.

Aang had hired an Earth Kingdom tattoo artist, who was more than willing to follow Aang's instructions about the procedure of the tattoo ceremony. The pain of the ceremony had been completely worth it when he showed off his sky blue tattoos running down his body for his parents. His mother exclaimed how proud she was of him, but his father remained silent. But Tenzin could see the look of utter pride and love in his eyes.

From that day on, Tenzin lived for his father's pride. He was everything that an Avatar's son should be: a powerful Bender, intelligent, compassionate, and a great diplomat in his own right.

However, everything had gone wrong on that fateful trip to Ba Sing Se…

It started out as an absolutely beautiful day in the Earth Kingdom, perfect traveling weather for any nomad. However, the unfortunate side effect of being a member of the Avatar's family meant that one rarely traveled for pleasure. Even though the war had been over for decades, the diplomatic duties of the Avatar never seemed to end.

Thus, this particular trip was not to enjoy the scenery of the Earth Kingdom, but to travel to the Earth Kingdom capital for yet another 'exciting' diplomatic meeting. Tenzin had never been particularly fond of being locked up in a room for hours at a time, but he did it for his father. However, by the end of the day, he would wish that he was trapped in a stuffy room. Anything was better than the horrors that he was about to endure.

They were staying in a small town on their way to Ba Sing Se, and walking through the market place. The years had not changed Avatar Aang. He still loved seeing the people, almost as much as he loved knowing that his presence gave them hope.

Tenzin walked through the markets just behind his parents, smirking at them as they exchanged small little glances and smiles. That was another thing that hadn't changed in the years. When his parents were together, they acted as if they were much younger than they were, laughing and flirting like teenagers. However, the sight didn't disgust Tenzin as much as it had when he was young and immature. Now it just mostly amused him. It pleased him too. His parents loved each other. His parents love for each other and himself had been one of the only constants in his life, he just didn't appreciate it until he was older himself.

It happened so quickly that no one had the chance to relax. Someone pushed past Tenzin and into his father, and then started walking away quickly, leaving behind the deed that would change Tenzin's life forever.

The entire family froze, staring at the Avatar with shock and incomprehension on their faces. For the first time in his life, Tenzin was unable to breath. He could not stop staring at the long dagger that was embedded in his father's back.

Katara's lungs seemed to unfreeze first. "Aang!" She screamed, catching him as he began to fall. Her scream attracted the attention of everyone on the street, who immediately added to the pandemonium.

Tenzin unfroze, but he was shaking uncontrollably, staring down at his parents, his mother cradling his father and crying herself hoarse. Aang was still alive, but everyone knew that he had been fatally wounded. Tenzin immediately began to look around for the person who had pushed past him and assassinated his father by stabbing him in the back.

Tenzin spotted him, and noticed that he had a tattoo on his arm: two swords crossed and a fist crushing the symbols of the Four Nations: the sign of the Anti-Bending revolt. Many people knew that it was the dearest ambition of the Anti-Bending revolt to kill the ultimate Bender, but no one took it seriously… until now, that is.

Something inside him had snapped. Never before, had he felt this amount of anger towards anything! Like his father, he spent his life preaching the merits of peaceful negotiation, but now all those words were forgotten in the harsh pounding of blood in his head, drowning out all noise around him until all he could hear was the sound of rage.

Even fatally wounded as he was, Aang could see the hate blazing in his son's eyes. "Ten…" He gasped, but it was too late; Tenzin was on the move.

Like any Airbender, Tenzin could move much faster than a normal person. He used this movement to his advantage and caught up to the assassin with almost no effort. He used a complicated Airbending move that allowed him to change the density of the air in front of the fleeing assassin. Normally, an Airbender would use this move to lower the density of the air and make lighter-than-air flight possible. This time, Tenzin used it to raise the density of the Air to almost impossible levels. For a split second, he was able to make the air itself as hard as a rock and the assassin slammed hard into the invisible wall, breaking his nose instantly on impact.

The assassin cried out in shock and pain as he fell to the ground. He didn't spend too much time in the dirt, because Tenzin was close behind. The young man grabbed the assassin by the cloth of his tunic and lifted him from the ground.

Now, Tenzin was quite thin. Airbenders, as a general rule, never got bulky or had much in the way of pure, raw strength. Under normal circumstances, Tenzin would have never been able to lift this man who probably weighed more than he did and hold him off the ground, but the anger coursing through Tenzin's veins made it possible. He didn't even notice the muscles in his arms screaming in agony at the impossible feat.

Tenzin slammed the assassin against the wall, nearly hard enough to break his ribs. "Why?" The young Airbender demanded. "Why my father?"

The assassin laughed. "Are you going to kill me, Air Nomad? You don't think I know that you Air Nomads would kill yourselves before you killed someone else. You can't do it. You won't do it. Not even for your father. Some son you are." The assassin laughed.

Tenzin grabbed the man's cheeks and squeezed hard until his mouth was forced to drop open. The assassin now stared at the Avatar's son in horror. "I would do _anything_ for my father!" Tenzin growled. He performed one of the forbidden Airbending moves, developed by the Fallen Monks of legend. They were Airbending moves designed, not to defend or incapacitate, but to kill. With a harsh movement of his hand, Tenzin forced air to flow down the man's throat and into his lungs. But there was far too much air and far too much force for the man's lungs to handle. It only took a split second for the man's lungs to fill to capacity and beyond. His lungs exploded like a balloon that had been blown up too much, except there was more pain and blood involved.

The man couldn't even scream, but he did manage to spit up some of the blood on Tenzin. It was far too late now for him. He had lost the ability to breath and he was dying quickly. It only took about a minute for him to die, but it was the most painful minute of the man's life. To make it worse, he had to spend it staring into the eyes of his killer, a man that he had been assured would never retaliate so violently.

Once the light left the man's eyes, Tenzin dropped the corpse and ran back as fast as he could.

When he made it, his father was just barely clinging onto life. He had lost the ability to speak, because he was whispering soundlessly to his wife. Tenzin didn't need to know how to read lips to know that Aang was telling her his final good-byes.

"Dad!" Tenzin gasped, kneeling beside his mother and his father.

Katara turned to look at him with tears in her eyes, and then she saw that he was covered in blood. "What did you do?" She demanded hoarsely.

"I…" Tenzin began, and then he trailed off, only now beginning to realize what he had done. The last few minutes now only seemed a bloody-haze to him. He really hadn't thought about it, and now he had… "I… took care of that assassin." He said simply.

Katara bust out into fresh tears. "Oh Tenzin… how could you? Wasn't there enough death today?

"…After what he did to Dad?"

"And you went after him and killed him. Tenzin, how many times have we told you… revenge is not the answer? All you've done is brought this suffering to another family."

Once again, Tenzin felt the breath leave his lungs. _What have I done?_ Tenzin asked himself. _I did the one thing that my father always forbade me to do… killing someone in cold blood! That assassin's death did nothing to me… I did not feel an ounce of guilt, or any regret. Oh Spirits… I really am nothing more than a mindless, cold-blooded murderer!_ In desperation, Tenzin turned his attention to his father, at least to ask for forgiveness before he lost the chance forever. "Dad, I…"

Tenzin trailed off, horrified by what he saw. His father was not looking at him. He had turned to face the other way. Tenzin knew enough about his mother's culture to recognize that Aang had turned his back on him… he had been disowned.

"No…" Tenzin gasped standing and stepping away from his father and mother. "Oh, Spirits, no…" Unable to handle the pain of the situation any more, Tenzin turned and ran.

He ran until he could no longer hear the screams of his mother as his father died in her arms.

He did not attend his father's funeral, and he had not seen his mother since. Katara didn't even know that she was a grandmother. He had hidden himself from the world, and stopped showing off his skills as a Master Airbender. No one had seen Tenzin perform a move that was above basic Airbending in nearly twenty years.

* * *

(Present)

Korra stared at the Airbender in shock as he finished his story. Avatar Aang had disowned him before he died? That information did not match up at all with how she perceived Aang when they met in the Spirit World. When she had discussed her possible Airbending teacher with Aang, he had suggested her seeing Tenzin most strongly. She could tell when he spoke about his son that Aang loved him dearly, and was very proud of him. He did not seem the type to go and disown his son over a mistake. A terrible mistake, but still a mistake.

"Are you sure…" Korra began, but then she stopped. How could she ask Tenzin if he had simply misunderstood his father? He had clearly been suffering for seventeen years, so how could he handle being told that it might have simply been a mistake.

Tenzin glared at her, as if he sensed the question. "Everything I ever did, I did for my father. That is why I, the son of the Avatar, am here as a lowly shrine keeper. Perhaps my service to him and the other Avatars will eventually earn my forgiveness from him. But I suppose my son will be grown before that happens."

"Master Tenzin…" Korra began. "I think you all ready have your father's forgiveness."

"That's not possible. What I did was unforgivable." Tenzin said.

Suddenly, Korra's eyes began to glow with an unearthly light. Tenzin, who knew the Avatar State when he saw it, took a step back in fear. He had seen his father in the Avatar State numerous times, and knew that his father would never hurt him in such a state. But the uncontrolled Avatar State was different… then those close to the Avatar could get hurt in the face of its uncontrolled rage.

However, instead of flying into a deadly rage, and almost forcing Tenzin to break his vow to never use Advanced Airbending again in order to save the lives of his wife and son, a gentle wind blew around Korra, obscuring her form with dust, and then the wind cleared.

Standing in Korra's place, was Avatar Aang himself, briefly manifesting himself through Korra's body as Avatar Roku and Avatar Kyoshi had done to him in his youth.

His father did not appear as he did on his last days, as an older man. He appeared as a young man, somewhere in his twenties. This was possible because, in the Spirit World, he had no body and, therefore, no age. He could appear as anything he wanted: a breeze, an animal, or as himself at any point in his life.

At first, Tenzin did not move, because he had been frozen in place by his shock, and then he bowed deeply on the ground.

Avatar Aang looked down at his groveling son with a sad smile on his face. "Stand up, Ten." Avatar Aang said.

Tenzin was immediately on his feet. "Dad… I mean… Avatar Aang."

"You know you don't have to call me the Avatar." Aang said. "I was and always will be your father."

"But… but I… I was disowned. I have no right to be claimed as your son." Tenzin said his eyes on the ground.

"Oh, Tenzin…" Avatar Aang stepped close and embraced his son. His embrace felt strange, like he was almost there… almost a physical presence. "Tenzin, how could you think that I would disown you so easily? I love you. You and your mother were my life, and even now in death, I think about you constantly. There was nothing you could have ever done to make me turn my back on you."

"But you did… you looked away. I didn't imagine it." Tenzin said.

"I wasn't mad." Aang said. "I was sad. From the day I first killed someone, I swore that you would never be forced to feel that pain. I would protect you. And, in the end, I failed. What happened the day of my death was my fault, not yours."

Tenzin buried his face into his father's shoulder. "I'm sorry I killed him." He sobbed brokenly. "I found the man's family and became a servant to them for several years to try and repay them. But I couldn't… I can't bring him back."

"No one can." Aang said. "I'm sorry, son. I'm sorry that I was neglectful in your education. I was so focused on teaching you Airbending and about the Air Nomad culture that I forgot to teach you how to forgive. Tenzin… I forgave that man the second he stabbed me."

"How?"

"Forgiveness is, perhaps, one of the hardest things you'll ever have to learn. It took me many years to learn how to forgive. In time, I was able to forgive Firelord Sozin for destroying my people. I forgave Firelord Ozai and Azula for nearly killing me. I forgave the man who killed me. And now I want you to learn how to forgive. Forgive me, my son."

Tenzin broke out into another sob. "I forgive you, Dad. I love you."

"I love you too, Ten." Aang said. "I have to go now. Make me proud, son. Because the Master Airbender that you know you are. Teach Korra. She has a destiny to fulfill and she needs your help to do it."

"I will, Dad. I will." Tenzin promised. The wind picked up again, and the form of Avatar Aang disappeared, leaving Tenzin embracing Korra. Korra became aware of herself again, and was shocked to find Tenzin's arms around her. "Um… Master Tenzin?" She questioned nervously.

"Oh? Sorry." Tenzin said, stepping away. "I have decided. I will teach you Airbending."

"Really?" Korra gasped, and then bowed. "Thank you, Master Tenzin!"

"You'll have to forgive me, though. It's been seventeen years since I performed Advanced Airbending. I may be a little rusty."

"I understand, Master."

Tenzin began to walk out of the shrine, and then turned to look at Korra. "Well? What are you waiting for? Your Airbending training will begin immediately."

Korra didn't know what had brought about the sudden change in Master Tenzin, but she didn't really care. He seemed to be infinitely happier, and he had agreed to teach her! _Maybe I'm better at this Avatar thing than I thought!_ Korra thought to herself as she followed Tenzin out of the shrine.

* * *

**LES: Once again, I show my utter suckiness at picking names by borrowing someone else's name. I suck.**


End file.
